Debates of Feb. 7th, 2022

COVID-19 Protests

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would remind the hon. member to ensure that he addresses all questions and comments through the Chair and not to the member directly.

The hon. member for Cumberland—Colchester.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Madam Speaker, my speech tonight was an attempt to turn the temperature down here. This is a very volatile and unfortunate situation. It is really important that we understand that members on both sides of this House have continued to say that those acts are deplorable and despicable. I find it unfortunate if my colleague opposite wants to continue to perpetuate the idea that it is something that anybody in this House would stand for. That is very, very unfortunate. It is inflammatory. It is for those exact reasons that I chose not to talk about those things in my speech but to emphasize that we need to begin to get to the end of this very volatile situation.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, which I very much enjoyed. It is true that people have become anxious and cynical and that a small minority of people, not everyone, have lost their trust in our institutions. As my colleague said, all of this comes from the fact that these people are living in their own echo chamber. I understand what he was getting at. I also liked the rules of leadership that he mentioned.

Unfortunately, I find that the federal government may not have followed those rules. What my colleague and his party are proposing is a good idea, namely, that the leaders of the various parties should meet to try to find solutions to the crisis. However, does he not think it would be even more productive if the federal government met with the Ottawa Police Service, the City of Ottawa, the Government of Ontario and all of the stakeholders on the ground to find a solution to the crisis?

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Madam Speaker, I think there is a time for meetings and a time for action. The government talks a lot about meetings, but the time has come to take action, to set a direction and to establish a plan for the future, not only for the occupation, but for our country, Canada.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, I want to start by acknowledging what the member said in his intervention: that people are suffering, that COVID-19 has been terrible, that people have died, that people have lost so much and that it has been very difficult.

He talked today to my colleague from the other party about turning the temperature down. Last week, I had to ask my staff person not to come to work. She is a young Muslim woman, and I was afraid for her safety. I have another colleague working in my office who is taking a sick day because she has not been able to sleep and she is deeply traumatized.

How can members of the Conservative Party of Canada continue to create a public relations campaign out of the occupation of our national capital by posing with protesters, posting messages of support and fuelling further divisions with their own party and across this nation?

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Madam Speaker, that is exactly the thing that we are trying to avoid here this evening. We think it is very important, even with respect to the audacity of the members opposite, that we need to turn the temperature down and we need to get the occupation finished and be able to move forward and get back to the great things that we have to offer here in Canada.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind members to please be respectful when someone has the floor. There is opportunity to ask questions and to comment at the proper time.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the residents of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, especially on a topic as important as this one.

I will be direct. I would love to see an end to what is going on outside, a peaceful end, and that end begins with the Prime Minister. COVID has been a difficult situation for everybody. Obviously, everybody in the House denounces any violence and any racialized gestures or symbols that have been displayed over the last two weeks. I rose in the House seven days ago as the shadow minister for veteran affairs to raise that very point when it came to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and I have no regrets on that point.

COVID has left us with a very fluid situation. Initially, people were unsure whether to wear a mask. Then people donned masks at the request of government. We waited for a vaccine, and then we had a vaccine. Then we had our second dose of the vaccine, and then we had our boosters. I personally did all of these things as quickly as possible. and I encourage those around me to consider doing the same.

Canadians have been asked to give, and they have given a lot throughout this pandemic. Earlier today, I was reflecting that one of my young children would not remember a period prepandemic. The point is this: We all want to get to normal. The people outside want to get back to normal. The people of Ottawa, living and working in the surrounding area, want to get back to normal. I want the people outside to get back to normal. I want the people living and working in the downtown area to get back to normal. I would love to see the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo get back to normal, and I want to see all Canadians get back to normal.

One thing we have repeatedly heard is the Prime Minister say that he has Canadians' backs. I prefer to take a different approach, though. It is Canadians who have had one another's backs. It is the doctors who have had our backs. It is the grocery store workers keeping groceries available for us. It is the pharmacists filling our prescriptions. It is the respiratory therapists helping us, and the nurses, doctors and truckers. These are the people who have had one another's backs, and I am thankful to live in a country like Canada, where we can make that claim.

In my view, a prime minister is a prime minister to all or a prime minister to none. There is no middle ground. My hon. colleague from Nunavut mentioned, when addressing my colleague from Vaughan—Woodbridge, the phrase “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian”, which, in my recollection, was a reference to when the Prime Minister opposed stripping the citizenship of people convicted of terrorism offense. We should not forget that the Prime Minister knelt with protesters within the last two years in breach of COVID protocols, yet here we have a prime minister who is dividing Canadians.

I have great trouble when I hear the Prime Minister blame unvaccinated people, calling them names and adjectives like fringe, racist and misogynist. At the most basic level, if one wants to encourage another to do something like get vaccinated, the best way to do it is not to call them a name. It is to encourage them to answer the question. If anything, those types of divisive tactics will alienate, rather than resonate with people who are unvaccinated. At the most basic level, the Prime Minister's job is to unite, as is everybody's job in the House. Unfortunately, I am seeing a prime minister who is choosing to divide, which is genuinely unfortunate.

In my capacity as member of Parliament for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, I have had many discussions with people, both vaccinated and unvaccinated. The Prime Minister may not appreciate this, but I have had reasonable discussions with people on all sides of the debate. Some people I would call hesitant. They have questions. That is why I share with them my experience, tell them what I have done and why I did it, and invite and encourage them to do the same. However, I cannot force or compel a health care decision, which leads me to the point of leadership and how we go from today, Monday, to tomorrow, Tuesday.

This is the time to resolve what is happening outside. I walked around today to and from Parliament Hill two or three times. I probably heard one or two horns all day, which, for those who have been here for the past couple weeks, is anomalous. That is likely due to the recent civil injunction. I noticed something; the tone felt different. It was quieter. Now is the time for a peaceful end. We do not have 5,000 people outside. We have a few hundred people remaining.

If I could speak to the Prime Minister, I would tell him that today he brought his partisan hat to the chamber and that tomorrow he should take that partisan hat off. I would say today the Prime Minister took an us-versus-them approach and that tomorrow he should meet with the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Bloc Québécois and the leader of the New Democratic Party, who arranged and requested this emergency debate. Today, the Prime Minister's approach was to look at other people as different, but tomorrow I encourage him to see all Canadians and their desire to move on from the current impasse.

The past two years have been hard enough and difficult enough, so I would say to the Prime Minister to please be a prime minister to all and help end this impasse.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member said in his speech that the Prime Minister's job is to unite, as is everyone's in this place. Over the past two years we have seen 34,000 Canadians die from COVID and five million across the world. People in Ottawa have had to file injunctions, as the member said himself, in order to get a bit of peace and quiet. When we see members from the opposite side going and joining this occupation of Ottawa, which is disturbing the residents and the peace of Ottawa, does the member not think that he has a responsibility to do the right thing, be democratic and stand up for the values of democracy of our great nation?

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Speaker, I feel that is what I am doing right now. I am discussing all Canadians, not just some Canadians. I implore a peaceful resolution to what is happening right now, but when we talk about democracy and a peaceful resolution, we are about two weeks in now. Where has the Prime Minister been the last two weeks? That is really the big question, but let us not focus just on where he has been the last two weeks. Let us focus on where he is going to be tomorrow and the next day after that in bringing a resolution to what is happening.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech, and I very much enjoyed its tone. His tone was different from the one we heard from the Prime Minister and some government members, who used a very combative tone, one that we obviously do not support.

I sensed some goodwill on the part of my colleague, who said he himself had been vaccinated and was explaining to people why he had chosen to do so. I also sensed a concern on his part about making the right decisions from a health standpoint and about bringing people together so that we can move forward and end both this occupation and the pandemic.

Since we want to de-escalate the current crisis, I was wondering if he and other members of his party would be willing to meet with the protesters or occupiers to encourage them to leave Parliament Hill and make sure we can put an end to this occupation.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his helpful remarks and for his comments.

At this point, I feel a lot of what we can do has really been exhausted. If I can put it bluntly, the ball is in the Prime Minister's court. He is the head of state of Canada. I endorse what the Leader of the Opposition has suggested, which is a meeting between the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Bloc and the leader of the NDP. These are the leaders of the four official parties in the House of Commons. Who better to hit the ground running to put a peaceful end to this protest, to listen to the people who are outside and to hopefully move forward in all necessary facets?

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, others have said it today and I will say it as well: My father was a trucker. My dad, Duke McPherson, was a trucker. He is worried about truckers. I am worried about truckers.

When the member talks about doing the right thing, listening and helping out, why did the Conservatives, if they really wanted to help truckers, reliably vote against improving safety regulations and enforcement, vote against better working conditions, vote against increased ability and support for unionizations and vote against improving workers' rights? That is their legacy in the House of Commons.

If Conservatives actually want to support truckers, why do they constantly vote against truckers' best interests?

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am not sure what particular legislation she is referring to, so it is very difficult for me to answer a question about general legislation. As Conservatives, and like all people in this House, we want what is best for Canadians, and I am prepared to fight for that, as are all Conservatives.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mount Royal.

I never thought that I would be in the House having an emergency debate like this with our city of Ottawa under siege and in a state of emergency. We have heard so much today from many members, in particular the hon. member for Ottawa Centre, my good friend, who talked about what is happening just metres away from the House of Commons. He talked about what is happening to the citizens and the desecration of our national monuments, including the National War Memorial. He talked about the incessant noise and how it is impacting children, children with autism, people with dementia and people who have to live in the residential districts around downtown. We have heard about the assaults, the verbal assaults, the threats and the way in which people wearing masks and the people working downtown are being treated. We have heard that all evening.

I would like to talk today about the impact on my constituents. My riding is only 15 minutes from downtown, and many of my constituents work downtown. Many of them have not been able to go to work, whether on Bank Street or at the Rideau Centre. They have not been able to collect a pay cheque for the last 10 days, and those who have had the opportunity to go to work are terrified. They are being threatened and harassed. I had a man write to me to tell me that he works at a church and this weekend, while at work inside a church, he had to call the police because he was that threatened. I have mothers whose daughters live downtown who have said that their daughters and their friends are facing threats of murder and threats of sexual assault. This is not something that we should be living in the capital city of our country.

I was heartbroken when I heard from Jewish mothers in my riding who were asking how they would explain to their children about the people who are wearing the yellow star and the people who are flying the swastika. What do they say to their children? This is at a moment when, in one of the neighbourhoods in my riding where we have a large Jewish population, there were trucks driving around with vile symbols. This is what is happening in our city right now.

When trucks were going down Carling Avenue for hours honking their horns, a mother whose child has autism said that she was taking him to the emergency, because there was no other way to get away from the noise. Yes, it is having an impact.

I have a coffee hour with my constituents every Friday, which is virtual now, and there was a young racialized man who said to me that he did not understand. It is almost a loss of innocence. How can it be that he cannot go downtown in his own city because of the colour of his skin? What was really important about that coffee hour was that people were listening to each other. We actually had some people who were at the protest attend the coffee hour and hear the impact that it is having on some of the racialized, LGBT and other members of our society. I think that people need to listen to one another more and be decent again, because what is happening out there right now is not decent. It is not peaceful. When violence is threatened, it is not peaceful.

The impact goes even beyond what is happening downtown. The Queensway Carleton Hospital in my riding has not been able to get their nurses and the frontline health care workers from Gatineau on the other side of the bridge to come to work. People in my constituency are not able to get help when they are sick. Worse yet, the children's hospital, CHEO, is having trouble. This is the impact that the protest is having.

It is not about political speech anymore. Maybe it started out to be about that, but now it is about mob rule. It is about intimidation. It is about bullying, and it has absolutely no place in our city or in our country. To anybody who is saying that this is a peaceful protest or that it is somehow about expressing political opinions, that is not what this is. Anybody who has seen the impact on people, how this is hurting people and how it is unleashing hate, should not be out there posing for pictures and giving out coffee.

I have worked in parts of the world where politicians thought they could draw that line, that they could toy with these forces of hatred and somehow use them for political gain, and we have seen what happened. I have worked in Sarajevo, Kosovo and the Congo. We cannot put those forces back in. We have to denounce them. We have to denounce them every single time. We cannot stop those forces once they are unleashed. We cannot control them anymore.

People ask why we are not talking to them. I do not think we want to tell other Canadians that if they were to come with large trucks, make lots of noise, threaten people, cause the kind of terror that has been caused to people in Ottawa and scare people, they can be rewarded, heard and listened to. Who are they? They are not the truckers, because 90% of the truckers are vaccinated and most of them are doing their job.

All of us are tired of COVID. We are all tired of the measures and the lockdowns. However, it is not even about that anymore. There are people a few feet from the House of Commons calling for the overthrow of our government and for harm to come to members of Parliament. That is an attack on the institutions of our democracy, and they want people to lose faith in our institutions. That is something we absolutely cannot condone.

People have asked what we are doing about it. The federal government has met every single request from the City of Ottawa. We have 300 RCMP officers, tactical and logistical support, joint intelligence and operations teams and community liaison teams, and we are coordinating among all levels of law enforcement. However, politicians do not direct the police. This weekend and prior, I have been talking to other levels of government. I have been communicating with the mayor and the MPP. The Prime Minister has been doing that, as well as the public safety minister, from the beginning. We have also talked to parliamentarians about solutions to this. Maybe we need to be looking at the financing of these movements. We need to ban symbols like the swastika and the Confederate flag. The member for Hull—Aylmer articulated perfectly the impact that the flag has on Black Canadians. We need to look at social media and how it propagates hate speech. We need to support the businesses and workers who have not been able to go to work this week.

As I come to my final words, I want to leave with one thing: Most people are good. Canadians are not as divided as people think they are. The fact is that 90% of Canadians are wearing masks, getting vaccinated and making sure they are protecting their neighbours. As we have seen this week, the Shepherds of Good Hope, which is the homeless shelter where protesters were trying to get food, and some of the women's shelters are getting more donations than they have ever gotten, as are the Legion and the Terry Fox Foundation. There are people living in the neighbourhood around the hospital who are saying that workers who cannot get home and back safely can stay in their spare rooms. There are truckers who continue to deliver goods. These are the good people. These are decent, good people. Living through and seeing all of this starts to affect us and makes us wonder about humanity. However, we need to see that the vast majority of Canadians are good.

I will conclude with a quote from the doctors and nurses in Ottawa, who wrote a statement. They said, “We will not cower. We will not hide. We will wear our scrubs in public, without fear, knowing that you—Canadians—have our backs.” That is exactly what we have.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for shining a light on the voices that have not yet been heard tonight. Do members know who else has not been heard? It is the nurses and health care workers the member just spoke of, who are working in hospitals tonight caring for people. I raise my hands to the health care workers and nurses experiencing violence on their way to work. I see them and offer them all of my gratitude and that of the people of Port Moody—Coquitlam.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, I think we all share that same sentiment. The nurses, doctors and frontline health care workers are there every single day caring for us. Whether we take their medical advice or not about getting vaccinated, they are there and going to work. They say they are not heroes, but we know they are the people we need to support. It is why we have made it illegal for anybody to harass health care workers on their way into a hospital. That is happening right now in Ottawa. I want to applaud, along with all members here, the courage and incredible sacrifice of those workers.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her compassionate speech. It is important to represent the voice of these people who are suffering because of what is happening right now.

It is true that some extremely inappropriate and unacceptable symbols have been brandished in this protest. No member of the House has inadvertently or unwittingly taken a photo next to these symbols. It is unacceptable.

We are being told that the government listened to all the demands of the City of Ottawa and the police services. Nonetheless, we sense the lack of leadership and we have tangible proof of it this evening, a few metres from here. Why was it not enough? What more does the government need to do?

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, in fact, we just announced today that we are going to have a trilateral meeting among the different levels of government.

We know that people do not want to hear us say that it is about jurisdiction, but the fact is that politicians do not direct the police. What we need to be doing, as politicians and the federal government, is providing all the resources so that the police, who have jurisdiction, have everything they need to uphold the law and to be able to do their jobs.

I would say that from the very start, before the time that the convoy reached Ottawa, we have been having that coordination. We have been talking with law enforcement. At every single level, political leaders have been talking.

As I mentioned, when the convoy was being routed through residential neighbourhoods in my constituency, I talked to the mayor and the provincial MPP to make sure that the convoy was not being welcomed and sent down Woodroffe Avenue.

Every single day, these conversations are happening. They have been happening with the municipal councillors right up to the Prime Minister. We need to keep doing that. After this is over, I believe we will have lessons to learn. We will need to sit back and—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

We want to allow for one quick question. I was trying to give the hon. member a sign to wrap it up.

The hon. member for Brandon—Souris.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Madam Speaker, I want to ask my colleague why the Prime Minister has put all of his eggs in one basket and will not go out and speak to the truckers.

The truckers have given him an option. The associations I have spoken to in the trucking industry have said that if they had had a test available, they would have taken a test and if that proved they were negative, they would go to work. If they were positive, they would isolate like anyone else.

Could the member elaborate on why we did not have enough rapid test kits in Canada from the middle of December until the middle of January, at least, so that could not be done? If they are available now, as the Prime Minister says, why would that not be allowed?

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, just this month we have actually procured 140 million rapid tests. However, these are not the truckers. The trucking associations signed a joint statement with the minister saying that they supported the vaccine mandate, and 90% of truckers are vaccinated. That is not who is out there on the lawn right now.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, I thank the leader of the NDP for proposing this debate.

I want to start by saying how sorry I am to the people of Ottawa and the businesses of Ottawa for what they have experienced over the last 10 days. Nobody deserves to experience what they have experienced.

There are those who say this convoy is about freedom. I certainly agree that after two years of a pandemic, most Canadians yearn for freedom, but most Canadians also agree that freedom comes with obligations. Those obligations include protecting the most vulnerable in our society. This means we all need to get vaccinated, because without getting vaccinated, new variants will continue to emerge and our hospitals will be overburdened. This means we need to wear masks indoors, because we know that the virus spreads more quickly in poorly ventilated or crowded indoor settings.

When someone calls for all mandates to be terminated, they are going against science, but it does not mean that other restrictions should not be constantly reconsidered. There are many in this country who are double-vaccinated and boosted. They have done everything right over the last two years and believed they were seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Then omicron hit us in December. Our health care system, which lacks adequate surge capacity, was about to be overwhelmed, and politicians had to act.

These restrictions involved a travel advisory and added testing upon return at the federal level, but the vast majority of these restrictions were imposed by provinces, including by Conservative provincial governments. Everybody was trying to do their best, using their best judgment, but that does not mean everyone agreed with the decisions, and they all merit debate.

I can fully understand why parents are confused and upset when their kids are having their schools closed and the kids' mental health is being so deeply impacted. I can understand why some business owners cannot understand why their businesses are closed while other comparable businesses are open. I have a friend who runs a gym and a friend who runs an adult basketball league. They have been constantly closed over the last two years. Given how important working out is to physical and mental health, it is hard for me to explain to them why this is the case.

Believe me, I get it. There need to be reasonable conversations about why vaccinated people and business owners are subject to restrictions, and we need a plan that provinces and the federal government agree upon to talk about how other restrictions will be relaxed.

Let me be clear that these frustrated Canadians are not represented by the protests currently going on in Ottawa and other cities. Demonstrations are important expressions whereby citizens make their views known. They typically involve local residents receiving a municipal permit, making their case and then leaving after a reasonable period of time. They involve a careful choice of location, and normally organizers go out of their way to not disrupt the lives of people and businesses. This is a constitutionally protected right that we need to respect, whether or not we agree with the cause.

While legal, peaceful assembly is a constitutionally protected right, a blockade of a city is not. The rule of law still exists in Canada. Honking all night long and keeping people awake, setting off fireworks and refusing to follow local rules related to wearing masks in indoor settings are not part of a normal, peaceful protest. Harassing citizens and journalists is not part of a normal, peaceful protest. Desecrating monuments is not part of a normal, peaceful protest. Targeting health care workers is not part of normal, peaceful protest. Stealing from food banks is not part of a normal, peaceful protest.

Let me say loudly and clearly that flying Confederate flags is not part of a normal, peaceful protest. Waving swastikas, wearing yellow stars and having the nerve to compare one's situation to Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust is not part of a normal, peaceful protest.

My colleague from Hull—Aylmer spoke beautifully about what it meant to him as a Black Canadian to see people waving the Confederate flag. As a proud Jewish Canadian, seeing some fellow Canadians waving flags with Nazi symbols and wearing and selling the Star of David that Jews were forced to wear to separate them from the rest of society in the Nazi era made me more sad and angry than I have ever been as a parliamentarian.

I heard from constituents of mine who are Holocaust survivors, and the pain and anguish this has caused them cannot even be described in words. What kind of people would do this? The organizers of the convoy have made clear what their goal is: Their goal is the removal of the duly elected government. Their goal is the abolition of all mandates and restrictions, whether scientifically validated or not. The convoy has some organizers who have social media histories of white nationalism and bigotry.

Who is supporting the convoy? Well, it is supported by Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene. I think my colleagues know that I believe we can disagree without personalizing things, but these politicians are different because they are actually attacking American democracy.

The hallmark of democracy is that the loser concedes an election, but in this case, these politicians have propagated the false and laughable claim that Donald Trump won the 2020 election, even though these claims were laughed out of almost every court to which they were brought. Indeed, Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, had his law licence suspended for communicating demonstrably false comments to courts in his capacity as Trump's lawyer.

I personally have no issue with Americans commenting on Canadian politics, in the same way that I reserve my right to complain about laws in U.S. states that make it more difficult for minorities to vote and that stop women from having safe and accessible abortions. However, what we do not need is further disinformation in Canada. People already have enough disinformation about vaccines. The last thing they need is disinformation about our democracy. The presence of Trump 2024 signs at this blockade is of deep concern.

What do we need to happen? People are frustrated and they want action. I want to thank the men and women of the Ottawa Police and the Parliamentary Protective Service, as well as the OPP, the RCMP and other forces who have done their best. Even though this is under the jurisdiction of the City of Ottawa, nobody wants to hear about jurisdiction.

We have a huge problem. Citizens' lives are being disrupted. They do not want to hear excuses from others that this is not their jurisdiction. They want all governments to work together to have this convoy leave Ottawa. They want a safe, peaceful and respectful end to this blockade.

I was very pleased to hear the announcement today that all levels of government will work together. May I suggest that they also need to communicate together. All of us need to see a daily press conference with all three levels of government and the operational leaders at the police level so Canadians know exactly what is being done to protect the rule of law and re-establish order in this city. We need to solve this issue and end these blockades.

Once that is accomplished, what do we need to do?

We need to have a parliamentary committee study exactly what happened with this convoy. How did a convoy end up being allowed to park trucks across from Parliament Hill? What security changes are needed? What legislative changes are needed to ensure that local police forces can request federal assistance more easily? Should there be federal responsibility for policing in downtown Ottawa that currently does not exist?

We need to understand how this convoy was financed, and whether there are countries seeking to cause trouble in Canada by financing illegality. It is one thing to receive donations from the United States, but if U.S. donations can come in this case, it would be equally easy for our adversaries, such as Russia and China, to send funds. What legislative changes, if any, are required to protect our democracy?

The member for New Westminster—Burnaby has brought forward a private member's bill to make the use of racist symbols and emblems, such as the swastika and Confederate flag criminal, subject to carve-outs. This is indeed a subject we need to tackle quickly.

While this has been a very unhappy experience, I encourage members to learn from what happened and use the experience to ensure that this cannot happen again. We must take steps to enhance and protect our democracy.

[Alex Ruff, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have just two quick questions for my colleagues. Both are from constituents.

One is from a female police officer in my riding who got her first vaccine, but unfortunately had an adverse reaction and is scared. Now she is mad at the Prime Minister, who is calling her a misogynist and racist for having health concerns.

The second question is from a fully vaccinated health professional in my riding who is seeing other countries around the world with less vaccination uptake that are opening up and lowering their federal equivalent mandates and restrictions. They want to know when the federal government is going to lift the restrictions here in Canada.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Madam Speaker, first, if somebody had an adverse reaction to the vaccine, there is an exemption they can procure to not be fully vaccinated. I do not know the situation exactly of the member's constituent, but if she truly had a negative reaction to the vaccine and her physician advises her against it, then she can procure an exemption in most provinces.

Second, as I stated, I believe that vaccine mandates are important. I believe that public health rules, such as wearing masks indoors, still have to be followed, but that does not mean that we do not have to look at all restrictions for vaccinated people. This includes, for example, whether we still need a travel advisory, and whether we need more testing in addition to PCR testing when people leave their destination and more testing when they arrive. All of these need to be reconsidered in the light of new facts. We all need to do that at the provincial and federal levels.